A Free Day

Today is Friday and it was a free day from sightseeing and formal adoption appointments so we could really do what we wanted for the whole day. We decided we would go to China's version of Barnes and Noble - it's a 4 story bookstore in the middle of Guangzhou. We took a cab and were definitely amongst the locals and away from tourists as we were the only westerners in the place- other than an Australian guy who was looking for maps and asking for them quite loudly- it was funny! Our main goal for this outing was to get my niece Betty some books and cds in Chinese. My niece Betty is 13 and was adopted about 2 months ago. Fortunately Betty had written me out a nice list of what she wanted in Chinese so I could hand that to the workers and they could help me. Two of the books were part of the Twilight series so I managed to find those on my own but the rest took several people helping us trying to figure out just what she needed.

The bookstore itself was huge and packed! Either the Chinese really love to read or they were trying to escape the heat. There were rows and rows of people sitting all over the place just reading books. I almost took a picture but figured I better not since we weren't really where anyone spoke English. The books are also really cheap! About $5 a piece for those Twilight books. Of course Bobby has gone into great thought as to why the books are so much cheaper- you can ask him about it sometime...when you have the time :) We ended up with two large stacks of books. We also got Alex a few Disney movies in Chinese- $2 a piece- not bad! They do not give you bags, they tie the books with twine. It was sorta fun, I felt like I was headed to school on Little House on the Prairie as we left the bookstore. On the way back in the cab Alex tried on my sunglasses. She had a great time with them. We will have to get her a pair tomorrow. It was a great way to spend the morning, I'm so glad we ventured out!

It is really hot here and we have had storms almost every day. After lunch Alex took a long nap. I snapped a few photos out of the window of the storm- it was so cool how the clouds were coming up off the mountain and joining the storm. After the rain stopped I snapped another photo outside our window of the traffic. The traffic here is insane!!! There are basically no rules, its somewhat of a free for all. The buses get so close together you are sure they will hit but as of yet I haven't sen a crash. I will try to get some pictures this week.

We had a nice dinner in the hotel, at a little more casual Chinese restaurant. They have tanks of fish and other seas creatures where you can select your dinner yourself. There are also some ducks, chicken and every part of the animal roasting for your viewing pleasure. I personally stuck to the fried rice and dumplings- those were very good- can't comment on the other items :) Alex continues to adjust well. She is loud and happy! It works for me!

Medical Exam Day

Today all of the kids in our group had to go for the medical exam. It is a series of basic checks and shots. The good news is that Alex does indeed only have a repaired cleft lip and a cleft in her upper gum, no cleft palate. The way her medical report was worded we weren't 100% sure but we are releaved as this means fewer complications and surgeries for her in the long run. The bad news is our girl received 6 shots and her tb test all in the same day! The nurses here were also very slow and meticulous so the kids were given the shots one by one at a snails pace. So not fun!!! They gave me the new shot record and all of the boxes to the shots so she should be up to date even by US standards. Alex took a good, long nap yesterday and no signs of fever as of last night so hopefully she was able to handle all of the shots without much problem. As I took Alex and Bobby's picture under the medical sign it brought me back to 5 years ago when I stood under the same sign with Avery. My how time flies!

Last night, we were gong to head out to eat and walk around but as we were waiting for a cab and a big storm rolled in so we opted to eat in the hotel. We ate at a great Chinese restaurant but it wasn't so kid friendly and no one spoke English so it was an adventure! The restaurant itself was beautiful! Lots of beads separating tables and the waitresses in silk dresses. The food was also great! The best we have had in China. The waitress brought us water in a glass bottle and showed it to us like it was a fine wine. Pretty funny stuff!

After dinner we went to the hotel's play room. Yes, they have a playroom full of toys and even a little tikes slide. They really do cater to the adopted families here. It's nice for the kids to have a change of scenery and be able to play with other kids. Well, our daughter really came out of her shell tonight. Alex was laughing and yapping in Chinese a mile a minute! She also was playing with the other kids and sharing really well (hopefully that sharing rubs off on her siblings). We had to wind the party down when Alex and another girl Grace started throwing legos all across the room and running in circles. We were wondering what happened to our introverted girl that doesn't talk much that was described in her file from her nannies. Obviously, Alex is gearing up to meet her brother and sister. After last night I have no worries about her being able to hold her own with Avery & Walker. She's going to fit right in! I so cannot wait to see the three of them together!

Daddy Daughter Day

Well today Alex was all about her Daddy! He even got several kisses from her! As you can see from most of the pictures I was following behind the two of them hand in hand. It is so sweet to see the way she has taken to him. Alex will look to make sure Mama is near by, so she wants me around- that's at least reassuring- but if I try to take her hand she shakes her head no and runs over to Daddy. Too Funny! It's interesting that several of the girls have taken to their Daddies in our group. Usually the kids will attach to one of the parents while in China and typically it's the mother but we must have a bunch of awesome Dads because our kids are loving them!

We have had a lot of rain while we have been in Guangzhou. It has rained everyday and sometimes pretty heavy storms. Yesterday we headed to the park near our hotel. It's beautiful with a couple of lakes and lots of trees and flowers. We weren't there 10 min. and a storm started to roll in. So we snapped a few pictures in front of the beautiful white restaurant and headed back. We got caught in the rain a bit and Alex thought it was hysterical. I love to hear her laugh!

In the afternoon we made a quick trip to the police station for Alex's passport photo. Even though she is officially our daughter she is still a Chinese citizen until she steps foot on US soil so she will be traveling on a Chinese passport. After that we had an early dinner at Pizza Hut. It was good pizza, better than in the US. We placed a special order for a pepperoni only pizza (it's not on the menu) while others in our group ordered the supreme. The supreme had a few surprises for toppings. Some things I don't think we ever figured out but it was fun to try! Alex ate an entire order of what Pizza Hut is know for.... fried rice. Yep! Pizza Hut has fried rice in China and it was really good- our girl ate it all! She also tried her first piece of pizza. She liked it but either it wasn't her favorite or she had already filled up on the rice.

Overall Alex is much more comfortable with us and particularly Bobby. She is a good sleeper (thank you God!) and eats very well. Several of you have asked about the language. She does not speak English but we are managing really well. Mama and Baba are the Chinese words for mother and father so they are very similar/the same. I use a translator for the big verbs like eat and sleep and have learned a few key Chinese words like bathroom. Alex is already starting to mimic us in English. She will say "baby night night" when she puts her doll to bed and can say "No" like a champ- imagine that!

Special Alert! Special Alert! The red shoes are off! I don't know if anyone noticed from the pictures but Alex put on a pair of flip flops I brought with us this morning. She put them on to go to breakfast and we went with it! This was the first thing many in our group noticed about her today. These red shoes are taking on a life of their own!

Tomorrow (well today for us) Alex will have her medical exam. She will likely have to have some shots- I'm hoping not too many. Keep us in your prayers!

She is Officially Ours!

Today we headed back to the civil affairs office and signed the official papers to adopt Alex. After a series of interviews and the first family picture for the adoption certificate she is officially ours! Yay! This morning was a bit difficult for Alex, as well as some of the other kids, as they were confused by going back to the same place where we had met them just yesterday. I couldn't tell if she was upset because she thought she was going back to the orphanage or upset that she didn't see her nannies when we arrived. Fortunately someone in our travel group brought a bag of balloons which really distracted the kids and calmed them down. I'd say the balloons are a 'must have' for those of you heading to China soon to bring home your kids soon! Oh and we haven't been able to pry those shoes off yet- I'll keep you posted!

After we left the civil affairs building Alex was much better. We then went shopping and bought her this loud yapping little dog she wanted. This store was a 7 story higher end department store. All the workers in the store were staring at us as we shopped for additional items with Alex and the yapping dog in tow. It was pretty comical! I'm sure they were thinking crazy westerners but I didn't care- my daughter was smiling and she was so proud holding it! Plus that yapping dog seemed to really earn us some points with her :) The rest of the day was low key and Alex is doing great! She took a shower after dinner and even put on jammies! We also found out our girl is a lefty just like her sister!

Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming! I will try to be better in the upcoming days about taking pictures of all the sites we are taking in on the streets. China is such a cool place and everyday I see something new!

P.S. The blog seems to be fixed- just some crazy glitch.

We Got Her!

We finally met our Alex today! We are happy to report that her lungs are healthy and that she is a perfect fit into our family as she was the loudest child in the civil affairs office. As you can tell from some of the pictures this was a rough day for our girl. Alex had been living with her foster family for over a year but was moved back to the orphanage in early June. She had become very attached to her nannies over these past 2 months. Fortunately she is finally with her forever family and she will not have to go through this upheaval again. Daddy managed to get the first smile from Alex just before she passed out from exhaustion at the civil affairs office. When we woke her up to leave she was much calmer and enjoyed the bus ride back to the hotel. We have had a pretty quiet evening and Alex just feel asleep fully clothed still in her shoes. Have you seen the shoes? Hopefully their full beauty come through in the pictures. They are brand new red glitter with fans! She would not let us take them off her feet. Obviously, they were a special gift for the day she met her family. We got our daughter and now we work to earn her trust and become her parents. Keep us in your prayers!

We Made it!

We made it to Hong Kong with no delay and no lost luggage! Yay! We are a bit jet lagged but pushing through. We took a tour of Hong Kong this morning, which was great! 8 of the top 10 things to see in Hong Kong in just 5 hours! Plus it kept us awake so it was a great choice. Hong Kong is amazing! I have never seen so many high rises. They never end! I have posted a few pics but they don't do it justice. It is really beautiful here and the buildings are just amazing.

We went to 'the peak' the highest point in Hong Kong. Got some great pictures and my first Starbucks in 48 hours so it was a winner! We then toured the last working fishing village in Hong Kong and saw many of the different areas of Hong Kong. There are beaches here that include a shark net around the swimming area! What?! I guess it makes sense they would have sharks but it's just not anything I had ever thought about. Apparantly they had several shark attacks a few years back so they had to add the net to keep the sharks out. Just a random something I learned today and thought I would share. It was odd but the beaches were nice. There are also some great homes and apartment buildings here. We learned all about how 4 is unlucky and most buildings here have no floors numbered with 4 in them anywhere (so no 4, 14, 24, etc.). Also, how the price of the apartment is largely determined by the feng shui of the apartment (which direction it faces, etc.). It was all so iteresting!

The harbor is just beautiful. Every night at 8pm there is a laser light show on the buildings. We watched it while we ate dinner overlooking the water. Very cool! So, a great day. I'm glad we decided to add a few days here before heading to mainland China, it was well worth it! Tommorrow we head to Guangzhou, China by train. It should be fun! Only 2 days until we met our girl! We can't wait!

You're Invited to......

...follow our family as we travel to China to bring home our second daughter, Alexandra Ruby. Robert and I leave this Thursday, July 22nd and return home August 8th. The Big Sister and Little Brother will be at home with their wonderful grandparents taking turns providing all the love and care they could need while we are away! Monday is the day we meet Alex! Stay tuned!